Dr. Capozzi received his MD from Strich School of Medicine, Loyola University, Chicago
in 1960 and continued on for Plastic Surgery training at the University of Wisconsin
1960-1966. He was an Air Force Captain and Chief of Plastic Surgery at David Grant Air
Force Hospital, Fairfield, California 1966-1968. In 1968 he went into private practice at
St. Francis Memorial Hospital remaining there for 30 years. He left private practice in
1998 to become Chief of Plastic Surgery at Shriners Hospital for children in Sacramento,
retiring in 2008.
He became a member of the San Francisco Rotary Club in 1971 and recently transferred
to the Tiburon/Belvedere Rotary Club to be closer to home. He became involved
in International Service in 1976 and in 1992 Co-founded Rotaplast International Inc. He
has been on 70 international missions, 56 of those with Rotaplast.
He has been married to his wife Louise for 59 years and they have three children.
Louise helped develop and is still a member of the medical records committee since Rotaplast’s first mission to
Chili in 1993.
Rotaplast International, Inc. was founded in 1992 by Dr. Angelo Capozzi and the then Rotary Club President Peter
Lagarias in collaboration with the Rotary Club of San Francisco to facilitate a surgical program in La Serena, Chile
to treat children with the cleft lip and palate anomaly who would otherwise not receive surgical intervention. This
initial historic mission took place in January of 1993.
As a project of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, and for the first three years of its existence, Rotaplast completed
one surgical mission a year. The following two years, Rotaplast completed two missions a year. In 1996, Rotaplast
became a separate non-profit corporation and has since consistently expanded its number of annual missions. In
February 2015, Rotaplast sent its 200th mission and to date has served over 17,000 children. Twenty-six countries
have hosted Rotaplast teams, including Vietnam, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru,
Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, Romania, China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Brazil, Bangladesh, Mali, Togo, Liberia,
Dominican Republic, Egypt, Tanzania, Myanmar and the Philippines. Hundreds of medical and non-medical volunteers
who give their valuable time, and generous organizations such as hospitals and medical equipment companies
which give supplies, account for the consistent success and expansion of Rotaplast missions.
Rotaplast would not exist without funding provided by partners. Although a San Francisco-based organization,
Rotaplast works nationally and internationally by partnering with Rotary Clubs, other organizations, and individuals
across the United States, Canada and mission sites. It provides a vehicle for medical professionals and nonmedical
volunteers to actively engage in projects that build international friendships and promote goodwill and
understanding among the peoples of the world.
For more information, go to Rotaplast | Saving smiles. Changing lives.
Rotoplast
Dr. Angelo Capozzi